Method of, and means for manufacturing chocolate

ABSTRACT

A method of manufacturing chocolate comprising feeding the mixed and ground ingredients to a chamber wherein work is performed upon the mixture by rotating helically extending paddles which serve also to progress the mixture from one end of the chamber towards the other, continuously feeding the mixture from the said other end of the chamber to at least one further chamber, containing rotating paddles, for further mixing and liquifying the mixture, continuously mixing lecithin and/or cocoa butter with the mixture leaving the further chamber and returning a proportion of the end product to the first mentioned chamber.

United States Patent Terrence John Organ;

Leslie Alderman, both of Bristol; Arthur Melley, Birmingham; WilliamHenry Pratt- Johnson, Bromsgrove, all of England [72] Inventors 21 Appl.No. 845,252 [22] Filed July 28, 1969 [45] Patented Jan. 11, 1972 73]Assignee Cadbury Brothers Limited Bournville, Birmingham, England [32]Priority July 24, 1968 [3 3] Great Britain [31 35,284/68 [54] METHOD OF,AND MEANS FOR MANUFACTURING CHOCOLATE 3 Claims, 2 Drawing Figs.

[52] U.S.Cl. 99/236 CC [51] Int.Cl A23g 1/10 [50] Field of Search 99/236CC,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,589,801 3/1952 Grindrod99/236 CC X 2,71 1,964 6/1955 Wiemer i 99/236 CC 2,784,095 3/1957Meagher et a1. 99/236 CC X 2,889,225 6/1959 Palik 99/236 CC 3,506,4614/1970 Noschinski et a1 99/236 C Primary Examiner-Billy J. WilhiteAssistant Examiner-Arthur 0. Henderson AltorneyH0lman & Stern ABSTRACT:A method of manufacturing chocolate comprising feeding the mixed andground ingredients to a chamber leaving the further chamber andreturning a proportion of the end product to the first mentionedchamber.

Pmmmmumn 3634.106

SHEET 2 OF 2 ATTE 3PM EYS IZlr METHOD OF, AND MEANS FOR MANUFACTURINGCHOCOLATE This invention relates to a method of, and means formanufacturing chocolate.

In the manufacture of chocolate, cocoa liquor, sugar and cocoa butterfor dark chocolate, or cocoa liquid, sugar milk solids and cocoa butterfor milk chocolate, are mixed together and ground, if necessary, to therequired fineness. The resultant product is a flake which has to beliquified by mixing with or without the addition of extra cocoa butter.Subsequently the mixed and ground basic ingredients are passed to whatis termed a conche wherein what is termed a conching operation isperformed upon the mixture.

A traditional form of conche consists of a reciprocable roller moving ina trought of chocolate, normally for periods of l to 168 hours dependingupon the quality of the chocolate required. Such conching is a time andlabor consuming batch operation and the objection of the presentinvention is to provide in a convenient manner a method and means forperforming a continuous conching operation upon the chocolate.

The action of the conche is not fully understood but the effects of theconching operation include the following:

a. Increased liquification of the chocolate.

b. Development ofa desired flavor.

The development of this flavor is presumably connected with localizedheat treatment of the chocolate due to the work being performed upon it.This development of flavor certainly cannot be achieved merely byholding the chocolate temperature at a given level.

c. Aeration which removes harsh volatiles particularly in the case ofdark chocolate, and

d. An increased smoothness in texture, detectable by the palate ratherthan measurable by particle size, and attributed to removal of sharpcorners from sugar crystals.

A method of manufacturing chocolate according to the invention comprisesfeeding the mixed and ground ingredients to a chamber wherein work isperformed upon the mixture by rotating helically extending paddles whichserve also to progress the mixture from one end of the chamber towardsthe other, continuously feeding the mixture from said other end of thechamber to at least one further chamber containing rotating paddles forfurther mixing and liquifying the mixture, continuously mixing lecithinand/or cocoa butter with the mixture leaving said further chamber andreturning a proportion of the end product to the first mentionedchamber.

Means according to the invention for manufacturing chocolate comprisesat least two chambers, the first chamber having an inlet at one end forthe admission of the premixed and ground chocolate ingredients, and anoutlet at the other end connected to the inlet end of the secondchamber, there being disposed within the first chamber a pair ofparallel and longitudinally extending rotatable shafts on which aremounted a plurality of helical paddles arranged to work upon the mixturewithin the first chamber and to progress it from said one end to saidother end, the second chamber also incorporating a longitudinallyextending shaft provided with helical paddles for progressing mixturewithin the second chamber from the inlet and to an outlet at theopposite end thereof, a relatively high-speed continuous mixing machinefor receiving the mixture from said chambers, means for feeding lecithinand/or cocoa butter to the mixture entering said machine, and means forreturning a proportion of the mixture leaving said vessel to the firstmentioned chamber.

The invention may also reside in means according to the previousparagraph in which the paddles are not all of similar helix angle andthe shafts in the first chamber are arranged to rotate in oppositedirections to impart a tumbling and cutting action to the mixturetherein.

An example of the invention will now be described with reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which FIG. 1 is a flow diagram of theapparatus and FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic perspective view of the threechambers.

Referring to the drawings there are provided three chambers, l0, 1 l, 12disposed one above the other. THe uppermost chamber 10 has an inlet 10aat one end to which the premixed and ground chocolate ingredients arefed, and an outlet 10!; at the other end which is connected to an inletHz: at one end of the intermediate chamber 11. At the opposite end ofthe intermediate chamber is an outlet llb which is connected to an inlet12a at one end of the lowermost chamber, which has an outlet 12b at theopposite end incorporating a pump 13.

Within the uppermost chamber 10 are a pair of parallel shafts 14 whichare arranged to be driven from a common source in opposite directions.On the pair of shafts respectively are a plurality of radially extendingarms 15 which carry a plurality of paddles 16 which extend helicallyrelative to the shafts. Each shaft 14 carries a plurality of paddles 16which extend helically in one direction and a plurality of paddle whichextend helically in the opposite direction. Moreover, the plurality ofpaddles 16 extending in both directions are so arranged that they do notlie upon a uniform helix so that in use a considerable tumbling andcutting action is imparted to the chocolate mixture while it is in thechamber 10. However, the arrangement of the paddles 16 is such that thechocolate mixture is progressed slowly and continuously from the inlet10a to the outlet 10b, and heat is imparted to the chocolate mixture dueto the work being done upon it by the action of the paddles 16.

The intermediate chamber 11 incorporates a longitudinally extendingrotatable shaft 17 on which are mounted a plurality of helicallyarranged paddles 18. The paddles 18 are arranged to progress the mixturefrom the inlet 11a to which the chocolate mixture is fed from thechamber 10 to the outlet lla, but are arranged to do less work upon thechocolate mixture during its time within this chamber.

The lowermost chamber 12 also incorporates two longitudinally extendingshafts 19, 20 arranged to be driven in opposite directions from a commonsource. The shaft 19 carries a plurality of helically disposed paddles21 a minority of which are disposed at opposite inclinations so that theoverall effect of these paddles will be to progress the chocolatemixture from the inlet 12a to the outlet 12b. The other shaft 20 carriesradial arms 22 which are disposed adjacent to the paddles 21 and arearranged to cut the chocolate mixture from the paddles 21 and effect athorough mixing ofthe mixture.

The chambers 11 and 12 may be surrounded by water jackets (not shown)whereby these chambers can be maintained at predetermined temperatures.

The chocolate mixture leaving the outlet 12b is fed by the pump 13 to amixing vessel 23 of known kind, wherein mixing is effected at arelatively high speed as compared with the mixing in the chambers 10,ll, 12. As the chocolate mixture leaves the outlet 12b, lecithin up to0.5 percent and/or cocoa butter is added to the mixture from anadditives container 24, this addition conveniently being effectedthrough an additional inlet to the outlet end of the chamber 12. Themixture leaving the mixing vessel 23, after passing through a sieve 25,is divided into a main stream which is fed by a pump 26 to a storagetank, and a subsidiary stream which is fed by a pump 27 back to theinlet 10a for recirculation. This recirculation of the treated andliquified mixture permits the viscosity of the mixture entering thechamber 10 to be controlled without the addition of excessive/lecithinor other viscosity reducing agent to the chamber 10.

It is important that the mixing in the vessel 23 should have a high rateof shear if maximum viscosity reduction is to be achieved from a givenamount of lecithin. Slow stirring during the addition of the lecithinwill not achieve the same effect.

It will be appreciated that use of a continuous conching operation asdescribed will avoid the necessity to treat individual batches toseparate conching operations and thereby render the manufacture ofchocolate more economical, without in any way having a deleteriouseffect upon the flavor or texture of the resulting chocolate. Moreover,the control of hygiene during manufacture is rendered easier.

Having thus described our invention what we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. Means for manufacturing chocolate comprising at least two chambers,the first chamber having an inlet at one end for the admission of thepremixed and ground chocolate ingredients, and an outlet at the otherend connected to the inlet end of the second chamber, there beingdisposed within the first chamber a pair of parallel and longitudinallyextending rotatable shafts on which are mounted a plurality of helicalpaddles arranged to work upon the mixture within the first chamber andto progress it from said one end to said other end, the second chamberalso incorporating a longitudinally extending shaft provided withhelical paddles for progressing mixture within the second chamber fromthe inlet end to an outlet at the opposite end thereof, a relativelyhigh-speed continuous mixing machine for receiving the mixture from saidchambers, means for feeding lecithin and/or cocoa butter to the mixtureentering said machine, and means for returning a proportion of themixture leaving said machine to the first mentioned chamber.

2. Means as claimed in claim 1 in which the pair of shafts in the firstchamber are arranged to rotate in opposite directions and the paddles onthe two shafts are not all of similar helix angle so as to impart atumbling and cutting action to the mixture in the chamber.

3. Means for manufacturing chocolate comprising in combination a firstchamber having an inlet at one end for the admission of premixed groundchocolate ingredients, a pair of parallel and longitudinally extendingshafts rotatable in opposite directions in the first chamber, aplurality of helically extending paddles carried by both of said shaftsrespectively, said paddles not having constant helix angles but beingarranged to traverse the mixture from the inlet end of the first chamberto an outlet at the opposite end, a second chamber disposed below saidfirst chamber, said second chamber having an inlet at one end connectedto the outlet of the first chamber, a rotatable shaft carrying helicalpaddles extending longitudinally in the second chamber, to feed materialfrom the inlet end of the second chamber to an outlet at the oppositeend, and a third chamber disposed below the second chamber having aninlet at one end connected to the outlet of the second chamber, a pairof parallel and longitudinally extending shafts in the third chamber, aplurality of helically disposed paddles on one of the pair of shafts inthe third chamber for traversing material therein from the inlet end ofthe chamber to an outlet at the opposite end, a plurality of radial armson the other of said pair of shafts in the third chamber arranged to cutthe chocolate mixture from the paddles on said one of the pair of shaftsin the third chamber, a mixing vessel for receiving the mixture from thethird chamber, means for feeding lecithin and/or cocoa butter into themixture leaving the third chamber and means for feeding a proportion ofthe material leaving the mixing vessel to the inlet of the firstchamber.

1. Means for manufacturing chocolate comprising at least two chambers,the first chamber having an inlet at one end for the admission of thepremixed and ground chocolate ingredients, and an outlet at the otherend connected to the inlet end of the second chamber, there beingdisposed within the first chamber a pair of parallel and longitudinallyextending rotatable shafts on which are mounted a plurality of helicalpaddles arranged to work upon the mixture within the first chamber andto progress it from said one end to said other end, the second chamberalso incorporating a longitudinally extending shaft provided withhelical paddles for progressing mixture within the second chamber fromthe inlet end to an outlet at the opposite end thereof, a relativelyhigh-speed continuous mixing machine for receiving the mixture from saidchambers, means for feeding lecithin and/or cocoa butter to the mixtureentering said machine, and means for returning a proportion of themixture leaving said machine to the first mentioned chamber.
 2. Means asclaimed in claim 1 in which the pair of shafts in the first chamber arearranged to rotate in opposite directions and the paddles on the twoshafts are not all of similar helix angle so as to impart a tumbling andcutting action to the mixture in the chamber.
 3. Means for manufacturingchocolate comprising in combination a first chamber having an inlet atone end for the admission of premixed ground chocolate ingredients, apair of parallel and longitudinally extending shafts rotatable inopposite directions in the first chamber, a plurality of helicallyextending paddles carried by both of said shafts respectively, saidpaddles not having constant helix angles but being arranged to traversethe mixture from the inlet end of the first chamber to an outlet at theopposite end, a second chamber disposed below said first chamber, saidsecond chamber having an inlet at one end connected to the outlet of thefirst chamber, a rotatable shaft carrying helical paddles extendinglongitudinally in the second chamber, to feed material from the inletend of the second chaMber to an outlet at the opposite end, and a thirdchamber disposed below the second chamber having an inlet at one endconnected to the outlet of the second chamber, a pair of parallel andlongitudinally extending shafts in the third chamber, a plurality ofhelically disposed paddles on one of the pair of shafts in the thirdchamber for traversing material therein from the inlet end of thechamber to an outlet at the opposite end, a plurality of radial arms onthe other of said pair of shafts in the third chamber arranged to cutthe chocolate mixture from the paddles on said one of the pair of shaftsin the third chamber, a mixing vessel for receiving the mixture from thethird chamber, means for feeding lecithin and/or cocoa butter into themixture leaving the third chamber and means for feeding a proportion ofthe material leaving the mixing vessel to the inlet of the firstchamber.